Abstract
Socially monogamous birds have provided a major focus of research in the field of sexual selection, providing insight into the evolution of ornaments, sexual dimorphism and sex roles. Following important theoretical work in the 1970’s, there has been a continued emphasis on elements of the sexual conflict between socially monogamous partners. The application of molecular tools enabled a significant research investment into the conflict over paternity. The differential allocation hypothesis, has been another well-worked area, focusing attention on the conflict over investment with a current or future partner, and being at the forefront of high-profile work on maternal effects. Whilst the conflict between the sexes has been a fascinating area of evolutionary biology over the past four decades, the level of conflict is often overstated, and our understanding of social monogamy is biased by taking the perspective of conflict rather than cooperation. For example, differential allocation in socially monogamous birds can be explained from an entirely cooperative perspective, as can much behaviour that is currently associated with sperm competition and the conflict over paternity. With over 80% of avian species forming socially monogamous bonds that are often life-long and can last for many decades, we need to redress the balance, and focus more attention on the benefits that both males and females gain from establishing, and maintaining socially monogamous partnerships. I highlight behavioural and morphological adaptations that feature strongly in socially monogamous birds, and that are deserving of more attention from the perspective of the high level of inter-individual cooperation and coordination that undoubtedly exists in many species. Whilst the focus of research has begun to shift recently, it will take many years to redress the bias towards sexual conflict that have taken the major share of empirical attention to this point.
Highlights
In some of the earliest work focused on sexual selection in wild animals, Huxley (1914, 1923) focused on the elaborate pair displays of two socially monogamous waterbirds
Cooperation and Coordination in Social Monogamy vocal and physical displays that are highly coordinated by the male and female together
In an important paper, reflecting on sexual selection, Huxley (1938) drew an important distinction between traits that evolved primarily to attract mates, and those that may influence the outcome of reproduction by a pair after mate choice has occurred
Summary
In some of the earliest work focused on sexual selection in wild animals, Huxley (1914, 1923) focused on the elaborate pair displays of two socially monogamous waterbirds. In this review, focused on socially monogamous birds, I bring together the work on mate choice, and the recently emerging work on cooperative and social aspects of sexual selection. Behavioral interactions between partners are likely to have evolved under the tension between conflict and cooperation, and appreciating the full range of variation along the continuum between the two will improve our insight into the evolution of behaviors and morphological traits intimately associated with reproduction in socially monogamous organisms. The complexity of the mate choice decision in socially monogamous species, within the context of the iteroparous life history of avian species, sets up a range of interesting potential avenues for both sexual conflict and cooperation. I will review the main areas below, starting with those relating to sexual conflict, but will devote more space to the cooperative aspects, given the imbalance in the literature to date (Symes and Price, 2015)
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